Wilde Thing Read Online Free Page B

it’s only fair to let you know that I’ve been married before and I’m not looking for anything long-term or complicated—just in case that matters.”
    She offered him a wry smile, appreciating his honesty, even while her mind absorbed the enormity of what he was proposing. “Well, we definitely have
that
in common.”
    He tipped his head and regarded her speculatively. “You’re divorced?”
    “Widowed, actually, though the marriage should have ended in divorce,” she said, revealing more than she’dintended. She highly doubted that sharing details of their private lives was part of any deal between them.
    “Yet you’re still wearing your wedding ring?” His curious gaze dropped to the ring on her left hand, silently asking for an explanation.
    She twirled the gold band around her finger, for the first time ever feeling self-conscious for wearing it for the sole purpose of avoiding men’s advances. “The ring isn’t mine. It was my mother’s, and my aunt saved it for me after my parents died, then gave it to me on my eighteenth birthday. I wear it because I’m not looking for anything complicated right now, either.”
    He rocked back in his chair and rubbed his thumb along his jaw in an absent caress, studying her from across the expanse of space separating them. Then, abruptly he asked, “Are you afraid of me?”
    Odd question, she thought. “Should I be?”
    “Depends on the situation and circumstances,” he said, giving her the distinct impression that he was testing her, though she had no idea why. “Yes or no?”
    Her heart beat hard in her chest, the thrill of the forbidden heightening her anticipation. “No, I’m not afraid of you.”
    Sliding back his chair from his desk, he crooked his finger at her, his striking blue eyes smoldering with a heady, come-hither invitation that made her insides turn to jelly. “Then come here, sit on my lap, and prove it.”

Chapter

2
    L iz was coming to realize that Steve Wilde was a take-no-prisoners kind of guy, especially when it came to seducing women. Her, to be exact.
    He sat casually in his office chair, so utterly male, so intensely sexual without trying to be, while waiting for her to obey his command. The arrogance in his gaze was entirely unapologetic, as if he had every right to be confident. As if he knew she found his calm self-assurance not only a challenge but a huge turn-on as well.
    He was right.
    She could only imagine what he had in mind for her, but she was ready for anything. Anticipation swirled low in her belly, and unable to resist his allure, she moved across the space separating them and settled herself across his lap. His thighs were firm and muscular beneath her bottom, and the denim material of his jeans scratched the backs of her bare legs in an arousing way.
    Even though she wasn’t used to playing such impulsive sexual games with a man, she was determined to be as bold and confident as he was. After all, if she in-tended to become a phone sex operator, didn’t she need to become a brazen, fearless vixen?
    Slipping one arm around his neck, she splayed her other hand on the soft cotton T-shirt covering his wide chest and met his gaze. This close, she could see flecks of gold in his hot blue eyes, could smell the heady warmth of his own arousal, could feel his deep, even breaths beneath her palm.
    He countered her advance by placing his big hand just below where the hem of her skirt ended. The heat of his long fingers branded her flesh while his callused thumb swept slowly, tantalizingly across the smooth, sensitive skin of her inner thigh.
    “Kiss me,” he said simply, and left the next move up to her.
    She’d instinctively known he wasn’t a man who’d let her go on her way with a politically correct, chaste handshake. Not after they’d brought their attraction out in the open and she’d all but told him she wanted his hands on her. It appeared Steve was a man who enjoyed the chase, as well as issuing outrageous